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THE PULSE
Newsletter of the Canadian Association of Recycling Industries
Volume 14, No. 3, March 2009

President's Message | Electronics Scrap | CARI Members | CARI Activities Updates | Fast Facts

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Successful businesses are constantly refining and developing various strategies to achieve competitive advantage over their competition. While some organizations will focus on new technologies and new approaches to processing materials, other firms will integrate all available assets to accomplish continued success. This includes an essential and often overlooked aspect of every infrastructure, the human resource.

Human resource management is a key component of every business and an important link between the companies and their employees. Regardless of the economic circumstance, businesses constantly experience the expansion or contraction of staff. To assist our members in strengthening their Human Resource management, CARI is organizing spring chapter meetings specifically to introduce a newly completed Human Resource Manual.

The CARI H. R. Manual is of particular use to our small and medium size members but also a great check list for our larger members who have a dedicated H. R. staff. This manual is a value added service to our membership and provides substantial cost savings for developing such an important reference guide independently.

The reference guide addresses policy issues for every aspect of H.R. It provides appropriate draft forms and letters that can be customized for individual members. It also offers a single listing of relevant authorities, laws and regulations. The CARI Human Resource Manual is a valuable tool for every member. I hope everyone has the opportunity to attend these valuable H.R. meetings and encourage all to take advantage of this new management resource.

Sheldon Jarcaig
CARI President

P.S. A USB Key of the completed English version of the H. R. manual in an electronic PDF format is being sent out this week. It is in translation, for that reason the French version will be mailed out at a later date.

ELECTRONICS SCRAP

Note to all Ontario members who work with electronic scrap: If you are involved in the recycling of electronics and missed the web seminar on March 11, the Ontario Electronics Stewardship (OES) has archived the Webcast and presentations HERE. If the previous link does not work click: HERE.

CARI MEMBERS

CARI member, Barrie Metals Group, has been recognized again as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies by Deloitte and the National Post. This is the third year in a row that the company's headquarter and scrap electronic recycling division have received the award.

CARI ACTIVITIES UPDATES

Switch Out

Results have shown that the 694 registered companies have collected 64,011 switches in 2008. This is the highest number of switches collected in a single year since Switch Out has been in place. Registered members should take note that inactive participants will be removed from the website; so, mail in those buckets of switches. The first of the 2009 collection sweep is scheduled to be in April.

Energy Digital Publication

To further raise the profile of the association, CARI will be doing a story on the recycling industry, which will be featured in the Energy Digital publication. The report will look at the association and its members and the services it provides to the industry. In addition, the completed report will be held on the Energy Digital website, in the publication section for 12 months with a direct link to the CARI website. Members may be contacted Ben Weaver of Energy Digital.

Click the image above or visit http://www.cowangroup.ca/cari-07 for information.

FAST FACTS

• Sims Recycling Solutions has erected a $20 million plant in Newport. The 6,000 sq m building is being equipped with the latest and the world's largest electronics shredding technology. The facility can recycle 100,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment each year. The plant will refurbish computer and IT equipment for re-use and re-sale as well as shredding materials and removing and processing hazardous waste. Thirty new positions have been added in anticipation of the new facility, bringing the workforce to 200.

• OmniSource Corp. workers in Fort Wayne assisted in the capture of two thieves in its yard with more than a ton of scrap metal in their pickup truck. Both local men were arrested and accused of stealing metal from a nearby demolition site. The contractor had suffered previous thefts and initialled his metals. OmniSource's employees called the police when the alleged thieves tried to sell the metals.
  

• A 38-year-old female attendant was shot three times by a gunman trying to rob her in the parking lot of a Citrus Heights, CA, recycling centre. The police responded and three schools were put on lockdown as a precaution during the search. Police speculated that this was an attempted robbery because the economy is getting tight and people are hurting for money. The recyclers were paying cash to people bringing in recyclable materials!

• According to a Northeast Recycling Council study, recycling and reuse make up a $35 billion industry in the five Eastern States - Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. These states have more than 11,000 recycling and reuse businesses that employ more than 100,000, and pay more than $4.2 billion in wages in 2007. The study divides recycling into 26 categories. Six of the categories represent recycled material suppliers, including municipal and commercial collection programs, processing centers, compost operations, scrap yards and plastics recyclers. Another thirteen categories represent businesses that manufacture new products using recycled materials.

• A report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) confirms that the increased number of thefts is linked to the value of metal. As prices increased, thieves began stealing anything containing metals, including entire air conditioning units. Not only are thieves risking arrest and prosecution, some are risking their own lives. A Vancouver man was electrocuted while attempting to cut through live wires at a power station. Another was killed attempting to remove copper wire from a live cable at a power station in Windsor, Ontario. The City of Olympia in Washington, reported copper wires were stolen from street lights, signals, and storage yards. These thefts jeopardize public safety by disabling traffic signals, roadway lighting, information signs, and other transportation systems.